the hills behind the hills
by lupusarctos
Summary: Suguro Ryūji's normal life comes to an end after a disastrous mission. He learns to cope with his new life (and body) with help from a few obvious people (and some who aren't so obvious). Bon Centric, eventual BonRin. Mangaverse, AU after the Kyoto Arc.
1. there is a house by the woods

A/N - First chapter! I really like this idea and hope you guys enjoy it too.

* * *

chapter i  
there is a house by the woods

_in which there is a normal day in the life of Ryuji Suguro, complete with runs in the forest, feelings of imminent doom, and up and coming missions_

* * *

It was his own muffled sounds that woke him in the stead of his alarm, the end of a panicked yelp cutting off as Ryūji slammed back into consciousness, the grey light of pre-dawn filtering faintly through his window.

_Blood, and ash and fire, the crushing boom of explosions distant but near enough to be a very real danger and…_

And… nothing, nothing but the faint sound of birdsong and his own uneven breathing. Safety and warmth, huddled in his thick comforter in his warm bed. Thin light, grey and dark, signaling a time well before sunrise. And it was… Ryūji groaned, grappling at his side table until he found his alarm clock and turned it towards him, squinting at the bright surface screen in the near dark. And it was five in the shitty morning. He let his hand fall back onto his pillow with a small thwap, his other coming to rest over his eyes.

He stayed like this for a couple of minutes, shaking off the unsettling remnants of nightmares not quite remembered and counting his breathes. A second passed, and Ryūji sat up, his mop of bicolored hair falling over his eyes. He swung his legs over and stood up, feet sockless, onto the wooden flooring of his room – _ohhh, cold ground, cold ground_ – and walked towards the bathroom he shared with Shima and Konekomaru. When they had first come to True Cross, both of the other boys agreed that Bon could have the smaller spare room to himself while they'd share the first one. He got up at, and he quoted Shima here, "Satan's ass-crack of dawn," and the pink haired boy and Konekomaru had agreed that they'd rather share a room than be woken up at 5:30 in the morning.

'_Or earlier_,' Bon mused, wryly amused, toothbrush dangling from his mouth. He dragged a brush through his hair and then pinned and tied it back. Newly able to see – he needed a haircut again, he swore his hair was some kind of weed, it grew so fast - he stretched to warm up his aching muscles. True Cross had been fully overtaken by fall's changing leaves and cooling days. Not that Ryūji truly minded. He far preferred colder weather over True Cross's truly awful summer temperatures, and fall brought the kind of peace that he craved year long.

Warmer and looser, he reviewed yesterday's lesson notes, painstakingly neat and organized. He'd read somewhere that the mind tended to take in information better just before going to sleep and just after waking, and so going over his notes in the morning before his run had become a routine. Speaking of his run – he glanced at his phone – it looked like it could be a mile or two longer today thanks to the extra time his subconscious had inadvertently gifted him. Another thing most of his friends (read: Shima) thought he was absolutely ridiculous for doing.

"C'mon man, waking up that early is bad enough, but doing it to _exercise_? I'll get Neko to pray for your soul," Shima had laughed at him over his coffee one morning when they'd somehow managed to be in the cafeteria at the same time – he tended to leave early and Shima tended to get up late. Oddly enough though, his run was one of the moments of true peace in his life. He could only imagine the look that that statement would garner from his pink-haired friend. It was nice, to be able to put his headphones on and blast music and not think of anything but the burn in his muscles; the morning quiet and still and _people-less_ around him. His somewhat introverted ways had not improved much since he came here, unlike Shima, who's socializing (womanizing) ways had drastically increased since the introduction of freedom.

Headphones plugged in and running shoes tied tight, Ryūji walked down the stairs and out of the dormitory sedately, picking the song he wanted from the long list his iPod presented. He settled into a medium pace just outside the courtyard. He veered left, deciding that he could do the woods run today. Calling them "woods" was over exaggerating a little, the patch of trees only two or three square miles wide, barely holding on against True Crosses' booming industriality and cramped buildings. He still liked them though. They reminded him, however slightly, of the unbridled wild of the forests surrounding his old home. Those trees had been his playground and nursery, and later his escape.

It was a mile or so run to the woods themselves, so Bon settled into his sedate pace, nodding and murmuring a polite "good morning" when he passed the little old lady who walked her equally little and old dog every morning. It wasn't long until he reached the soothing sanctuary of the trees. About a mile and half or so in lay a little shrine, mossy and crumbling slightly with age. Bon slowed when he reached it, stopping to sweep dead leaves off with his hand and to leave a small offering – a couple of tangerines still left over from a few nights ago when he'd swiped them from dinner. He had no idea what ancient guardian the shrine dedicated itself to, but it never hurt to be respectful of his surroundings.

'_It might even help me in the future_,' he thought wryly, bowing once to the shrine and resuming his run.

* * *

Coming back, Ryūji felt a prickly sensation along his neck and jawline, crawling its way down his spine. He'd scanned his surroundings more than once, even taken a different route home, but couldn't shake the idea that he was being watched. _It's probably nothing_, he thought to himself uncertainly, _and after all he was nothing if not paranoid at times_, but his thoughts didn't stop him from getting to his room as quickly as he possibly could without straight out running. The feeling quickly faded afterwards, and Ryūji scratched uneasily at his arm. _It's nothing_, he reminded himself, and went to shower.

Fifteen minutes, an achingly hot shower, and some clean clothes later, the feeling had been forgotten, and his attention firmly turned over to fixing his hair. Konekomaru came stumbling in to brush his teeth and shower sometime later, offering a sleepy "good morning." He returned the greeting and went to go eat breakfast and buy one of the power shakes they sold at the nearby convenience store. Shima thought they were gross – "They have spinach in them, Bon. _Spinach_." – but they weren't that bad tasting, and very healthy besides.

He only went back to the dorm to grab his bag and say goodbye to Konekomaru – Shima had yet to rouse – and then left again, heading towards his first class of the day. Normally he'd leave a little later, but he felt that he'd better make sure he was on time today. After this morning, he inexplicably felt as if something bad was going to happen. He figured it was the left over anxious tension from his dream and the disruption of his routine, which he firmly stuck to. Nonetheless, he was extra early in class that day, arriving before all of his other classmates and sitting sedately in his seat, telling himself multiple times that his nervousness stemmed from his dream and enjoying his final moments of peace before the shriek of the school bell and babble of his classmates broke it.

* * *

Classes passed as normal that day, and as no disasters seemed immediately imminent, Bon felt himself relax. Now he only had "cram school" to get through and he'd be home free to complete his homework and get to sleep early, and when he woke everything (mentally) would be normal again.

Unfortunately, it seemed, fate had other plans.

His first warning flag was the nervous tension in the class. He and his two companions had arrived third today, after Okumura-sensei and Kamiki, who was sitting in the corner and glaring at everything that moved and breathed, as per usual. The atmosphere seemed anxious to Bon, and a quick look to his side at Konekomaru's slightly pinched facial expression confirmed that Ryūji wasn't just imagining things. He first thought that maybe Okumura Jr. and the grumpy girl had gotten into a fight, but another look around the class once he'd sat down confirmed that both were acting completely normal, not that they was any cause for them to have fought in the first place. His only choice was to sit and wait to see what was going on as his classmates began their slow trickle into the classroom, ending with the older Okumura brother.

"Late as always, huh, Okumura?" Ryūji couldn't resist calling at the boy. Said half-demon twisted, tail lashing.

"What! I'm practically on time today!"

"Practically is not actually, Okumura-kun," their teacher's smooth voice broke the cresting fight before it could break, much to Ryūji's disappointment. He'd stopped truly disliking the kid pretty early in the year, and even the whole "my friend is one of bastard sons of the devil himself, however the hell that worked" debacle had been firmly squashed by Rin's actions when they'd defeated the Impure King, but faux fighting with him had become something of a past time, something genuinely not meant to hurt and relieved tension at that. It seemed that Yukio wasn't going to let them waste time today, however, because he quickly started his lecture before either of them could continue.

"Now that everyone is here," cue somewhat evil eye directed towards the teacher's brother, "I've been instructed to brief and accompany you on another mission." Ryūji didn't even have to look to know that Rin was practically sparkling at this piece of news; everyone else, however, didn't seem very enthused.

"Not to worry," Okumura-sensei continued, "this mission is much less risky than the one in Kyoto. Actually, there should be practically no danger." Now Bon did look, and, to no surprise of his, Rin seemed to have deflated a bit. Only Okumura Rin would be disappointed at the prospect of no danger. Ryūji resisted the urge to snort and roll his eyes and instead returned his gaze to the front.

"Our mission involves searching and investigating an abandoned laboratory. Officially, the building was used for stem cell research, but the Order suspects that an ex-exorcist on the roster of scientists may have conducted some kind of illegal experimentation in the building. What he did, if he did indeed do anything, remains to be seen. You will," Yukio's words sharpened and he seemed again to glare at his brother behind the glare of his square glasses, "have to write an official report on your findings and conclusions, and you _will_ be graded." At this point it seemed all excitement had left Rin, and he even released a little whine at the word "report."

Ryūji tried not to laugh and went up with the rest of the class to collect the official mission statement. "We meet seven thirty tomorrow in front of the train station. Pack clothes for two or so days and lunches for tomorrow. No tardiness will be accepted," the teacher finished, and Bon wryly assumed that that too was directed towards Okumura, whose tail had drooped to drag against the floor. With that, Yukio had finished the mission's introduction, and started up on his pharmaceuticals lesson without further ado. It took little more than the words "lifespan of the purple demon weed" for Okumura Sr. to fall fast asleep. Bon tried to dredge up the usual annoyance and quiet rage towards the slacker, but only succeeded in being somewhat amused. _'What the hell, I'm going soft towards _Okumura_. Next thing you know, I'll be confessing my love to him,'_ Bon firmly cut that thought off as soon as it began and focused on taking notes. The last thing he needed was Okumura to gain knowledge of his sexuality, let alone be the actual object of his affections.

Ryūji pretended that thought was unappealing and let himself be caught up in the lesson, sparing no more thoughts towards the slumbering half-demon in the front.


	2. there is a wolf in the chimney

A/N - Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger.

* * *

chapter ii  
there is a wolf in the chimney

_in which Ryūji and Rin have a talk about the mission, there's someone in the "abandoned" laboratory, fast-acting sedatives prove about as fast acting as advertised_

* * *

The next morning, everyone got there more or less on time. Bon and Konekomaru had made good time and arrived five minutes before the deadline set by their teacher, Shima was not so prompt and had arrived a minute or so late. Everyone was gathered and ready by 7:40, with the exception of the most obvious person to be late, ever.

"Nii-san…" Yukio sounded somewhat like he'd woken up on the wrong side of the wrong bed (in hell), so Ryūji made a mental note to try to not bother the younger Okumura today and kept well out of firing range.

"Where the hell is he," Bon muttered grouchily, huddling deeper into his large scarf. It was colder this morning than it had been so far in the year, which made waiting for Okumura even more obnoxious. It wouldn't kill the guy to be on time for once in his life.

"Now, now Bon," Shima sounded exceedingly pleasant for someone who had been chugging their coffee like their life depended upon it five minutes ago, "he probably just over slept. No reason for genocide."

"I'll show you a reason for genocide," Ryūji growled into his tea, stuffing his free hand into his pocket moodily. The train was visible in the distance and quickly approaching, and Ryūji knew that they never stopped for long.

Rin, apparently, had amazing luck, because he came running, sword and bag swinging wildly behind him, just as the train pulled in. He babbled an assortment of excuses to his increasingly angry-looking brother, laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head before quickly leaping to assist Shiemi with her heavy-looking, floral patterned bag. Ryūji rolled his eyes, trying to ignore his own building annoyance, and helped Shima lift his bag, which could have held only bricks for how heavy it was.

"Why do you have ta' pack so damn much every time we go somewhere?" Ryūji asked incredulously, throwing both their bags onto the overhead rack. Shima gave one of his awful grins and Ryūji realized with a sinking certainty that he didn't actually want to know the answer to that question.

"Oh, ya know. Just some light reading," pink waggling eyebrows only added to the unnecessary suggestiveness of that comment.

"God, dude, rhetorical question, didn't wanna know," Bon sighed, taking his tea back from Shima, who looked inordinately pleased with his entendre. Why was he friends with this guy again? At least he had Konekomaru to help him manage the pink-haired fool; Konekomaru who was… talking with Okumura (the senior). Ryūji sighed again, deeper, and flopped into the seat besides Shima, leaving the aisle seat for his bald friend.

The train lurched forwards only minutes later, and Ryūji blew moodily into the small hole in the cap of his drink. The wafting smell of the black tea he'd picked at the café the triple had visited that morning calmed him, and he could concentrate on not burning himself on it instead of listening to Rin, who'd sat across the aisle, and his boisterous conversation with Konekomaru.

"Okumura-kun, where is Kuro?" Konekomaru asked, looking around for the aforementioned ball of black fluff.

"Caught a cold," Rin said offhandedly. This comment provoked a second of silence from all nearby, before it was interrupted by Shima's muttered, "_cats can get colds_?"

"I dunno about regular cats, but demon cats can, I guess," Rin face screwed up as if he'd miraculously gain knowledge regarding the cold immunity of house cats if he concentrated hard enough. "'s okay dude, I'm sure Kuro'll be better by our next mission. You can play with him then, yeah?" Konekomaru flushed and nodded. Ryūji probably would never get over the fact that the guy carried a cat toy around with him, no matter how many times he'd had to drag his bald friend away from random strays. He was gonna get some weird ass disease one of these days, he swore.

Sipping his tea and returning his attention to the scenery blurring past – so much for not listening in – Ryūji let the faint sounds of the train clicking over the tracks and the soft conversation lull him in a type of pseudo meditation.

* * *

He didn't know how long he had spaced out for, but when he came to his tea was luke warm and Rin had moved on to another conversation altogether. Bon quickly drank the rest before it got completely cold (and therefore disgusting), wiped his mouth with back of his hand, and tuned in to what his friends were talking about.

" – and I just don't understand why we can't do something more… I dunno, _exciting_."

"Okumura," Bon started, chiming in wryly, "your definition of fun an' exciting starts an' ends with a whole bunch of unnecessary sword swinging. An' possibly bloodshed." He paused, and then added, "Actually, definitely bloodshed."

Rin seemed startled that he'd joined the conversation but recovered and quickly retorted, "Ok, but at least fighting's better than wandering around some old lab thing. And then havin' to write a _report_," he shuddered on the last word, like it physically hurt him to say the word, "about it."

"Yanno, our experiences as ExWires ain't 'xactly the norm," Ryūji said dryly. "This kind o' mission is the kind that they _give _ta' ExWires. We've just had a whole bunch of shitty luck an' all our missions have turned out be inordinately dangerous, thas' all." He paused, watching Rin mouth the word 'inordinately' with a confused look on his face. "Look – the point is these are tha' kinda missions we shoulda have had since the beginning. So get used ta' it."

Rin slumped for a sec, then brightened up. "Maybe we'll have really bad luck this time too, and we'll get to fight!" Ryūji rolled his eyes.

"Only you'd wish for that kinda thing, Okumura," he muttered, slumping back into his seat and ignoring Shima's laughter beside him. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he mused that he and Okumura had just had what one could call a civil conversation, with only minor sniping involved, friendly or otherwise.

"If you're worried about the danger though, don't," Rin added casually. Way too casually. "I'll protect ya'." He wouldn't. "Princess."

So much for civility.

* * *

After Konekomaru and Shima had wrestled Bon back into his chair (but not before the bigger boy had punched Rin in the shoulder with a growled, "I thought the rule was what happens in Kyoto _stays in Kyoto you asshole_.") the train ride proceeded fairly smoothly, as Bon had receded from the conversation and stuffed headphones over his ears with a snarled, "wake me when we get there." The only good thing that Konekomaru could say about Rin, who was now wearing an altogether too smug expression from managing to "one-up" Bon, was that he had looked kinda regretful just after the mohawked teen had decided to ignore the world. Er. Kinda.

The train pulled into the station of their destination just after one. Ryūji had woken up himself around twelve or so, devoured his lunch like it had personally offended him, and then had read for the remaining hour. Rin had made a small effort to rile him up again, but Bon had steadfastly ignored him.

And now they were standing in front of the most horror movie-esque, creepy-ass building that Ryūji had ever seen, after dropping their luggage off at the tiny hotel they were staying at for the night. Even their teacher had seemed somewhat surprised, blinking blue eyes at the debilitated building before clearing his throat.

"Right… well we only have two days to search the entirety of this building so I suggest we split up and search the right wing for today. Remember to keep a sharp eye and ear out, and photograph anything suspicious you find with the disposable cameras I handed out earlier." After a brief scrabble, teams had been assigned and flashlights given, and the group entered the building with no little apprehension. Shima had been the one paired with Ryūji, unfortunately. Shima was a great friend but a not so great partner, especially when it came to creepy old buildings with a half million bugs in residence.

"Would you stop _clinging_," Ryūji growled, trying to be quiet as he tromped down the old concrete stairs.

"That spider was the size of my head, Bon. AS BIG AS MY HEAD."

"Okay, okay, just stop pulling. And shouting," he muttered, swinging the flashlight's beam across the floor of the basement.

"Why'd we have to get the basement anyway," Shima whined, "it's creepy as hell."

"This entire building's creepy as hell."

"Yeah, but the basement's –"

"Shhh," Ryūji cut him off, swiftly clicking the light off, "I think I heard something." It took a second for his eyes to adjust, but eventually he could make out the individual shapes in the dark fairly easily.

"H-heard what exactly," Shima warbled, cowering behind him. "Rats? People? _More spiders_?"

"Sounded like footsteps," Ryūji frowned, and listened closer before reaching back and tugging on Shima's sleeve. "Must've been mistaken. C' mon," he muttered, stepping down the dark hall. The basement was more like a labyrinth, the way it was set up. A couple of glances through heavy metal doors confirmed that experiments had also been conducted down here. "Maybe high-risk experiments?" Bon mused quietly to himself. He was distracted by Shima's sudden whisper.

"Bon," he said urgently, tugging on the white sleeve of the mohawked teen.

"What is it now?" Ryūji hissed.

"W-what's that?"

Ryūji squinted in the darkness. "What's what?" he responded.

"T-t-that!" Shima's voice was practically a squeak now.

Bon sighed deep and rummaged around in his pocket for the flashlight. He slowly turned in on, and then swung the light upwards, towards the dark shape he could just make out. It was… a spider. Well, it _was_ rather big –

"IIIIIEEEEEEE." Well that could have been only one person, Bon thought, startled by the sudden sound. He swung around to see Shima running like the devil himself was on his tail, quickly disappearing in the darkness.

"Shima!" Ryūji whispered urgently. There was no response, but Bon figured that the pink-haired boy couldn't get too lost when there was only one hall, and it led directly to the stairs. "Jackass," he muttered, figuring he'd go back and get his friend, considering there didn't seem to be anything even nearly incriminating down here. He was turning to do so when he froze. His jaw and neck prickled, and he resisted the urge to itch. He had a feeling eerily similar to the one he'd had on yesterday morning's run. He turned his head slightly.

He could have sworn he heard it again. Footsteps. Like boots… walking down a concrete floor. He quietly cussed and flicked the flashlight off, staying quiet and still in the dark and listening intently. When nothing seemed apparent, he shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable.

"Ow!" A sharp pain rose in his neck, like the pinprick of a vaccine. Maybe he'd been bitten by one of the spiders? His fingers clumsily grappled for the area and he stilled, pulling a small white cylinder attached to a thin needle out of his neck. It looked familiar, almost like the fast-acting sedatives that Okumura-sensei used when he couldn't seriously injure…

Ryūji barely had time to think '_oh shit_' before black like an anvil hit him and he knew no more.


	3. there is a cult in the east

A/N - You get an introduction to "creepy doctor" this chapter AKA probably the most cliche villain ever.

* * *

chapter iii  
there is a cult in the east

_in which Ryūji passes out a few times, gets a couple unwanted attributes, and proves that princesses are actually really badass_

* * *

The first thing that Ryūji registered as he returned slowly to consciousness was that he was extremely uncomfortable. The second thing he realized was that Shima was the biggest asshole _ever_. The third was he had no idea where he was.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel all that concerned at that revelation. He blinked lazily, jerking his arm only to meet with resistance. He foggily registered that he was strapped to a table in a brightly lit white room, the ceiling blurring and convulsing before his eyes as if he was caught in the middle of a heat wave, despite the fact that he felt achingly cold. His bones felt like they were on fire, but the pain was distant enough to safely ignore, and Ryūji was distracted with the figure on the other side of the room, who appeared to fiddling with some kind of contraption.

He felt as if he should probably be afraid, but he couldn't really think of why he should be afraid, nor could he dredge up any feeling besides dull concern. The man turned, and for a second Ryūji thought it was Yukio for the glasses and black bangs, but the man was taller than his teacher and had the beginnings of grey hair mixed intermediately throughout the black. He was altogether unremarkable, and when he walked over the only look in the man's eyes was clinical interest, like Ryūji was a cadaver on display. It made his skin crawl.

"You seemed to have adjusted well to the first dose," he said in a bland voice, and Ryūji could see how one could very easily overlook this man, for all the presence he had. There was something building distantly under his ribcage that felt like burning rage, and the fiery beginnings of hate, but Ryūji couldn't see why he'd be angry or what he was hating. It was like a fog had descended over him, separating him from feelings and thoughts that usually moved faster than quicksilver.

"W-wha," he managed to say, his lips and throat dry. The man cocked his head, suddenly reminiscent of a large, creepy puppy and Ryūji fought the entirely inappropriate urge to laugh.

"Hnn. Yes, I would tell you the details of your improvement, but I'm afraid you won't remember this encounter, nor this conversation, later," the man puttered back over to the metal side table, grabbing what appeared to be black box. A click told Ryūji it was a tape recorder, and he wondered idly who still used tape recorders in this day and age.

"Dr. Tanaka, Day 286, October 19th in the year –"

Ryūji's hearing faded out for a second, black closing around the edges of his vision, but he forced his eyes open.

"Subject 029. Male, appears to be aged sixteen or seventeen. Physically fit." The man paused for a second, and then cleared his throat once. "I believe the younger age and fitness will make this experiment a greater success than the later ones." He paused again, looking down at Ryūji, the blinding overhead lights creating a glare on his glasses.

"The serum has also reached the greatest success percentage that I've seen so far. This experiment, I believe, will be the first of many successes… the day where I have made the perfect weapon is fast approaching now…"

At that point Ryūji could barely hear the man as he mumbled under his breath, his breath uneven and excited. He felt a curl of revulsion settle among the rage, still faint.

The doctor cleared his throat yet again, seeming to remember himself. "Upping dose from four parts serum one part blood to three parts serum two parts blood. Expect more major changes with this dose." With a click, the tape recorder was shut off with a kind of finality that send a chill like ice through Ryūji.

The man came over and fiddled with the IV that'd he only just realized was attached to his arm, before grabbing a syringe from the smaller metal table. He gave it a little push, a small stream of noxious red black liquid squirting from the needle. Seemingly satisfied, he injected whatever it was into the IV. Suddenly Ryūji felt as if he needed to get away, and fast. He pulled at the restraints, but his muscles were weak and limp, unmoving against his wishes. The quiet burn in his bones quickly intensified into blinding pain, and everything faded into white noise.

* * *

Shima hated, hated, _hated_ bugs. He didn't care how useful they were, if he never saw another spider again it'd be too soon. He didn't stop running until he'd reached the door from which they'd entered, and even then he only stopped because if he didn't, he'd have run into Shiemi, who was peering at him with concerned eyes. Rin stood to her right, staring at him with far less worry.

"The hell are you doing, dude?" Rin asked, sounding amused. Shima suddenly realized that almost the whole group was there, with the exception of – ah, nevermind, there was their teacher, Konekomaru in tow.

"Er, well, spider –" Shima began, but was quickly interrupted by his teacher.

"Shima-kun? Where's Suguro-kun?"

"Whattya talking about, Bon's right –" Shima's dark brows furrowed over his eyes. He could have sworn the tall boy was right behind him. "…er, where's Bon?"

"Shima!"

"Right, right, sorry. I'm sure he's right behind me, the basement wasn't that complicated… just there was this spider and –"

Yukio sighed deeply, taking his glasses off to rub at the bridge of his nose. "I paired you up so that you could look after each other, not to abandon your partner at the first sign of danger," he scolded, Shima wilting under his words. "Let's go get him," he muttered, replacing his glasses and taking the lead towards the basement.

The group trudged down the stairs and through the hall together, flashlights on and sweeping the musty, dark area in bright beams of light. Shima seemed more confused the further they went down, looking around as if Bon would pop out from some dark corner with a, "just kidding!"

"That's weird, I coulda sworn I left him right here – eeeeeee!" There was a hollow echo as Shima slipped hard on something, landing on his back.

"Owwww, what the hell?"

"Shima-kun!" Shiemi yelped, obviously startled by the loud noise, "are you alright?"

Shima grinned sheepishly, rubbing his back. "Yeah, 'm find, just tripped over –" Shima pointed his flashlight at the ground where he'd slipped to find the perpetrator. There was a quiet pause as everyone registered the implications of what they were seeing. The light threw the shiny beads of Bon's rosary into sharp relief, the red tassels slightly dirtied from being stepped on. Next to it, bright white against the grimy floor, sat a small canister connected to a needle, the words "fast-acting sedatives" emblazoned across it in black print.

Yukio grimly spoke up, breaking the spell of horrified silence.

"This isn't good."

* * *

Bon hadn't even realized that he had passed out until he woke, blinking against the harsh white of the room. "The fu- " he started to croak before cutting himself off, alarmed. Something felt… different - besides the bone deep ache he was starting to believe was permanent. He shifted and heard something swish, a rustle of cloth. He shifted his eyes to the right, hardly able to turn his head for the restraints – there seemed to be new ones around his head and chest. There was a flicker of brown in his peripheral vision. '_Stop moving_,' he thought and the brown thing stilled. He squinted at it. It appeared to be… a tail? It was shorter than Rin's, and longer furred, feathered, almost like a dog's. The longer tuft at the long was still present, though. Still… Ryūji squinted harder at the thing, vision blurring, the fur seemed… broken. Almost like it was…

Striped. His vision cleared. Stripes, licking their way down to the end of the tail, lighter brown than the surrounding fur, almost blond. They were irregular, unlike a tiger's. It reminded him of that dog his second cousin had – his thoughts were abruptly cut off by a sudden voice.

"Ah, you're awake again. Good. Your recovery this time was even faster than the last. I suppose it's your accelerated healing kicking in."

"Holy shit!" he squeaked, turning his head violently to the right and immediately regretting it, his neck twinging painfully. That doctor was practically invisible!

"Who the hell are you?!" he yelled, "The hell did you do to me?!"

The man smiled sickeningly. "I improved you of course," he said, cocking his head in way that seemed vaguely familiar, "although you haven't quite been perfected yet. It'll take one or two more doses for that." He walked away to fiddle with a capped bottle of red liquid. "Your body is holding up quite a bit better than those of my other…" he paused for a moment, "patients. I suppose youth and health make all the difference."

"Improved how?!" Ryūji snarled. He had a bad, bad feeling in his gut; like he would be sick.

"You haven't noticed? I suppose it will take you a while to get used to the extra appendage, but you should have felt it by now."

The pieces were starting to click, even in Ryūji's fog addled mind. Feeling strange… tail… extra limb? He flexed the new muscles near the end of his spine experimentally and watched as the… his tail flipped.

_Oh God._

He ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling a catching sharpness that shouldn't have been there where his canine teeth were, felt the sharp sting of a cut but only tasted blood for a second.

_Oh. God._

There was a new weight on his head, like he was wearing a crown. He didn't even want to know what was going on with that. The sinking, sick feeling he had dissolved into spiraling dread, and Ryūji felt like he would throw up.

"Ah, seems you've realized. You caught on much quicker than the others too. I was right to assume that you were a good choice for this."

"Y-you," the words caught in his throat, which seemed so dry compared to the wet weight he could feel in his eyes, "you turned me into a _demon_?"

* * *

"Oooooh god, what are we gonna doooooo. This all my fault, oh god, oh god… what if he's hurt!"

Yukio felt like yelling at his pink-haired student, but refrained, as it appeared Shima was punishing himself enough already. Shiemi was crouched next to the huddled figure, rubbing his back in soothing circles.

"Well, we're never going to find out unless you stop freaking out and we figure something out," Izumo sniffed imperiously, hands on hips. The bravado was fake; Yukio could see the worry as plain in her eyes as he could in those of the others.

"He has to still be here, right?" Konekomaru seemed quelled somewhat by all the eyes turning to him but continued, "I mean… Bon would've noticed if there was more than one or two people in this hall, and considering they obviously didn't use brute force… Bon is very heavy."

Yukio caught on fast. "And Shima was only apart from him for an hour or so, so he has to be close," he finished. "Whoever had taken him obviously doesn't truly care about being caught, or they would have made sure there was no evidence. I presume they're either transferring Suguro-kun to another area, or whatever they need him for won't take that long. Time is of the essence."

"Then let's stop talkin' about it and get movin'!" Rin barked from the back of the group, obviously impatient. For once, Konekomaru was inclined to agree with him.

"Alright, we're going to sweep the basement. Always travel in groups of three or more and keep your weapons close," he ordered, and the group of students nodded before taking off down the hall, Yukio close on their heels. Heavy doors were kicked open, the awful bang of rusted metal hitting concrete echoing down the empty hall. The tunnel was long and haphazardly organized, seeming to split off into several different halls when there was only truly the one. They'd been traveling for a while and appeared to coming to the end of the hall when Konekomaru noticed something rather odd.

"The ground should be dusty," Konekomaru noted as they traveled, the concrete flooring growing cleaner as they went. Almost as if someone was trying to conceal…

"Footprints," Yukio nodded firmly. There was something going on down here, and the young teacher was sure that Bon was not the only… victim involved. The mission statement had included files on the ex-exorcist who'd worked here before the shutdown of the laboratory, but the man was unassuming and had no previous records to indicate any actual illegal experimentation. This mission was supposed to be just one of the many regular checks the Order assigned to make sure that their secrets weren't getting out. Orders to look for signs of illegal experimentation was a fairly regular item included on missions like this, usually a precaution rather than a precursor to an actual investigation – with the exception, it appeared, of this mission. As per usual, their's had become the outlier, irrationally dangerous for what was supposed to be an ExWire level mission. Yukio couldn't even tell why the whole group hadn't just been promoted to Excorcist already.

Now the question was: what kind of experimentation? What was Suguro needed for? And why Bon in the first place?

"Wait…" Rin paused uncertainly, sometime later, "is that light?" The group shared a look before creeping down the hall with increased caution. Yukio mouthed some directions to his students, but it appeared that either Rin didn't see his brother's instruction or just completely disregarded it, because he went charging down the hall, sword pulled free from the sheath, prompting a burst of fire that wreathed the hall in its haunting shade of blue.

"Wait! Nii-san!" Yukio whispered harshly, reaching out as if to stop him, but Rin burst through the door anyway, throwing the rest of the group into harsh light that they squinted hopelessly against as the world tore apart at its seams.

* * *

"Not yet. You are still only _half-demon_," the man sniffed, like the word itself was distasteful. Ryūji decided not to question the flush of relief those words provided. "That will change soon enough," the faux doctor continued, testing the syringe. He moved over to the IV again, and Bon felt his world narrow down to the man and the syringe and the all-encompassing, roaring rage he felt burn like a wildfire under his sternum, burning past the groggy fog in his mind like it was nothing, until it was all he could feel and see and breathe.

_How dare he_. How dare he take away Ryūji's _humanity_ like it was a game, how dare he act like he was _bettered_ just because he was demonically stronger or faster. HOW. DARE. HE.

He felt the rage explode up his throat, burn in his mouth and eyes and soul, and explode outwards in orange and red and searing gold.

* * *

Ending Notes - The dog that Bon is thinking of is the Japanese Kai Ken (remember this, its gonna be relevant in the future). They're more mottled than striped, and their markings are more of a russet brown than blonde, but I took some artistic liberty.


	4. there is a church in the west

A/N - New chapter! I really hope the feelings (oh no) in this chapter aren't too unrealistic - I've never been turned into a half-demon so I couldn't reference my own experiences. Hope you guys enjoy it anyway.

* * *

chapter iv  
there is a church in the west

_in which Ryūji doesn't know what to do with himself, tests out some new abilities, and has a lot of feelings, some of which are very gay_

* * *

Yukio watched as his brother, sword and all, and the door were propelled across the hall and were slammed into the opposing wall. A stumbling and coughing figure, very singed, forced its way from the room, which still flamed orange and gold; although more sedately than before. The man was taller than Bon and had glasses, and Yukio watched as he collapsed onto the ground, seemingly from air depletion. Yukio could feel the fiery room sucking up all the oxygen around them and felt somewhat winded himself. But… where was Suguro?

"Someone tie him up," he barked shortly, gesturing at the fallen man with his boot, and getting up from where he'd taken cover behind an abandoned file cabinet. His stupid, outrageous brother, charging ahead like a blind bull in a china shop, as per usual.

He only faintly heard the sounds of Shiemi talking softly to her little familiar, and then the sound of vines growing, grappling their way around the unconscious man's wrists. He reached down to check Rin's pulse, only to be startled as his brother jerked up, blue eyes wild.

"Nii-san, what were you think-"

"Save it, Yukio. Where's Suguro?"

He had just barely had time to tell his brother he had no idea before the half demon was up and heading towards the flaming hole into the room. There was a sudden, deafening roar – or maybe a howl, it certainly sounded distressed enough – and the flames exploded outward once more. Rin covered his face with his arms, squinting against the light. The flames were almost uncomfortably hot, but didn't burn. He couldn't tell if this was because he was half demon and therefore immune to being burnt, or if the owner truly didn't mean to harm him. Immediately after the flames died as fast as if water had been poured over them, revealing a single figure, collapsed on his knees in the scorched room, miserably staring at his hands. Flames like Kurura's licked sedately over his hair and shoulders.

"Bon?" Rin asked softly. One of Bon's – oh shit, he hoped he was hallucinating right now – pointed ears twitched in his direction but the boy didn't turn. "Bon?" he asked, louder this time, and teen shuddered with his whole body, before turning to look hopelessly at him. Rin barely had time to take in the look in his eyes – they were brown like usual, but he could see the ring of gold around a pupil more catlike than a human should have, and very watery – before he threw his arms around the boy. There was a quiet moment, air flat, during which Rin could hear shuffling indicating the remaining students had gathered around the door way, and gasps from several as they evidently saw what Rin had hoped he'd hallucinated. Damn.

Though he supposed it was pretty hard to hallucinate the feeling of horns – _horns_ – butting against his chin, or the way a faintly striped tail came to twist around his wrist.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Rin whispered. He heard a faint sniffle before Bon withdrew, eyes dull.

"What happened?" he asked, voice raw and congested.

"Shima got back, we realized we lost you… you've only been gone a couple hours. We came looking for you. Er… is that guy the only -?"

Bon roughly wiped his eyes with the back of hand, standing. "Yeah, as far as I know he was the only one. Bastard hit me with tranqs. Woke up in here. He injected something into me, said something 'bout serum and blood and shit. You got 'im?"

Rin nodded, getting up himself. "Yeah, Shiemi's has him tied up in the hall. Uh… you need help walking or…?"

Bon shook his head roughly, tail flicking behind him. "Nah… 'll be fine," he murmured. He looked up to meet the eyes of his shell-shocked teacher, the rest of his classmates crowded behind and to the sides of him, wearing expressions varying between horrified and disbelieving (or blank, as per the case of Takara and his shitty puppet. God did Ryūji hate that puppet).

"Can we get outta this hell hole now?"

* * *

It was a certain under exaggeration to say that Bon looked different, Konekomaru thought, glancing at the weary looking boy from the corner of his eye. The treck back to the surface had been uncomfortably quiet, but there was little they could have done about it, considering Bon had barely said a word, no matter how he was prompted. Not that Konekomaru blamed him.

Well, he didn't _look_ different, per say, he edited, resuming his previous train of thought. The features he had as a human were unchanged. The additional attributes, however, somehow completely changed his appearance in an inexplicable way.

Mephisto and Shura had shown up within three minutes of Yukio's call; Mephisto to seal Bon's demon heart – _gods, _that was weird – into a thin gold ring, and Shura to pick up the still unconscious man dressed in a doctor's white cloak and glasses – thoroughly scorched and tattered by now – and bring him to HQ.

After Bon's sealing, his pointed ears had diminished in size, shrinking to the length of a human's, if not pointier. His pupil's slitted effect had lessened, but it was still fairly visible, not to mention the burning ring of gold surrounding it. A fang would poke out every so often when he scowled, which was often, and his tail lashed out behind him like an angry cat's. Or an angry tiger's, Konekomaru thought, swallowing hard. His demon features up until then were almost identical to Rin's – with the exception of the _horns_. They sprung from his head about an inch up from his hair line and curved back another five or so. All in all, Bon looked… frightening.

Which was ridiculous. Konekomaru had never been afraid of Bon in his life, even when he'd bleached his hair and gotten all those piercings, even when (still looking like a thug) he'd punched out the first (and last) teenager to dare insult Konekomaru's parents. But now, he didn't just look like a punk, he looked inhuman. Demonic. Frightening.

But he was still Bon, Konekomaru firmly reminded himself, and even if his skin turned green or he started sneezing fire he'd still be Bon. A brother. _His_ brother.

And with that in mind, it was impossible to be afraid of him, half demon or not.

* * *

"I-I-I'm s-soo sorry!" Shima wailed, practically latching himself to Bon now that he wasn't literally aflame. "This is a-all my f-f-fault!"

Bon seemed completely unsure of what the hell he was doing, faced with his greatest weakness: crying people. He hopelessly mouthed 'what do I do' at Konekomaru, who shrugged. Bon awkwardly patted Shima's back.

"Er, look, it wasn't yer fault… you can't control yer fears an' all. An' I should have been payin' more attention to my surroundings an' trusted my instincts and stuff… so, 's really my fault –"

That seemed upset Shima even more. "N-n-nooooooo!" he wailed, "Don't blame y-yourself!" Another round of waterworks ensued, Bon looking more anxious than ever.

"Ok, ok! It's no one's fault, okay?! Now just… stop crying. It's ok. I'll… I'm gonna be fine," Bon said, "we're all gonna be fine." Shima, seemingly mollified, nodded, sniffling and wiping his face.

"I hate to break up this… touching scene, but we have to go," the headmaster, ignored up until this point, spoke up, his usual abnormally large smile looking a little pinched.

"Uh… where, exactly, are we going?" Rin asked, eyebrows furrowing parallel to his eyes, "and how?"

"The school, of course! I had this key specially made to move large crowds of people to the school, so no need for that pesky public transportation," the headmaster finished with a flourish.

Rin, apparently, was speechless at this revelation. Not that it lasted for long. "You had that kind of thing this whole damn time and never used it?!" he raged, pointing an accusatory finger at the clownish demon.

"It's very expensive and for emergencies only, of course! Come along!" Unable to argue with the suspiciously cheerful headmaster (could the guy read the atmosphere, or did he just not care?) they followed him back to the laboratory's large metal doors, which opened to the entrance of Rin's dormitory with a click of the key.

"I assume everyone can stay the night at your place if they wish?" he asked in a manner that suggested Rin wasn't allowed to disagree. Rin nodded anyway, but Izumo spoke up.

"What about our luggage? It's all still at the hotel."

"All taken care of! No need to worry! Now, your teacher and I need to finish up some business here, so go along!" The kids allowed themselves to be pushed through the door, which snapped closed after a parting call of, "Have fun kiddies!"

"Stupid clown," Rin grumbled. He looked around. "Why'd he suggest you guys stay here? All your dorms are pretty close…"

"I'd like t' stay, if that's okay with you, Okumura," Bon spoke up for the first time, "I'm kinda dead on my feet right now, don't think I can make it to my room." Rin nodded, which provoked Shima and Konekomaru to speak up immediately after.

"Then we're staying too," Konekomaru said with finality.

"Guys, you can go back, its fine –"

"No, Bon. Where you go, we go," Shima said, his airy tone contrary to the serious expression in his eyes. Bon nodded, defeated. Rin, who was off to one side, coughed.

"That's fine. Anyone else?" The rest of the group shook their heads, with the exception of Takara, who simply walked out the door, leaving it to slam behind him. The group jumped.

"Forgot that guy was there," Bon muttered uneasily.

* * *

Ryūji collapsed into the freshly made bed, stripped down to his boxers and black undershirt, wiggling under the covers. Their luggage had been delivered around ten minutes before (he had no idea how the headmaster knew where to deliver each bag, but he wasn't going to question it), but he was too exhausted to change. All he wanted to do was sleep for months and months, and then wake up and feel normal again. And preferably not be a half demon anymore. He didn't even look up when the door softly opened and then shut, assuming it was Koneko or Shima. Which is why Rin's gruff voice startled him.

"Uhh, so, " Rin scratched behind his head awkwardly, strangely reminiscent of that morning when he'd arrived late to the train. God, was that just this morning? It felt like it had been an eternity and a half since then.

"Where's Neko n' Shima?" he asked, fatigue clogging his voice.

"They're eatin' dinner down stairs." Ryūji suppressed a wince. Even the mere thought of food turned his stomach.

There was a pause, and he wondered idly what Rin had come in for.

"Yanno… being a half demon isn't so bad." Ryūji turned to look at the nervous teen, who'd sat in the chair at the desk and brought one of his legs up to cradle to his chest. "I mean… just until they finish questioning that glasses doctor guy and get you a cure… it isn't so bad. Just until then," he finished, looking more awkward by the minute.

There was silence for another minute, and then Ryūji sighed deeply. "Thanks, Okumura," he murmured, "yer probably right. It'll… take some time to get used to, thas' all." Rin brightened somewhat.

"That's ok! I can teach you!" he cut himself off, "I mean..."

"Sounds good," Ryūji said, mostly to placate Rin. He'd always wanted to do the ridiculous things Rin could do without even trying, but he was too tired and depressed to think of anything but his all encompassing weariness at this point. And he wished the opportunity had come in a different way. A much different way. "Jus'… after I've slept a' least 10 hours. Probably more than that." Rin grinned.

"No problem!" He jumped from the chair, obviously very excited, before remembering himself and awkwardly walking over to the door. He paused, half way out, and then said, so softly that Ryūji was sure human ears wouldn't even hear, "Night, Bon."

"G' night."

The soft sound of the door shutting was all Ryūji remembered before he slipped off into the comforting darkness of true sleep.

* * *

After the longest sleep of his life (who the hell slept _seventeen hours_?), and an enormous breakfast, he _still_ was pretty sure he'd never be ready for this. Actually, he'd never be ready for this.

"You're kidding," Ryūji deadpanned, trying very hard not to look down. They were standing on the top of Rin's dormitory. Rin's _three story_ dormitory. Which Rin wanted him to _jump off of._

"C 'mon, princess, it's fine. I do this all the time!"

"Seriously, I don't think –" was all Ryūji could get out before Rin physically pushed him off the roof. Back first.

'_Is he trying to murder me_?!' he thought furiously. He barely got to think before his body seemed to snap to attention, moving seemingly without his instructions. He flipped mid air and landed on his feet as safely and softly as if he'd jumped a single step. Crouched, he marveled at the lack of recoil moving up his legs and spine – were demons cats or some shit? The balance his tail gave him was impressive too. He stood and looked at Rin long enough to give the laughing boy a rather rude hand gesture. Then his muscles coiled beneath him and he jumped in a high arc, adrenaline burning in his throat.

He'd expected he'd go quite a but further than he could when he was a human, but landing on the roof of, again, the _three story building_ was incredibly surprising, so much that he lost his balance and landed on his ass, winded. Rin looked equally surprised.

"What!? I can only get two stories. That's BS," Rin pouted. Ryūji recovered from his breathless awe enough to wryly say,

"Thas' 'cause I actually exercise, Okumura." Bon counted breaths until his heartbeat had slowed somewhat and the adrenaline had faded to a dull pulse, and then stood. He ignored Rin's sputtered denials and his outburst of, "I so do exercise!"

"So… what else can ya do?"

* * *

Ryūji understood the need to wait until night to test out the rest of his new-found abilities, considering the regular students would freak if they saw a boy jumping across the roof in broad daylight; he just wished the wait wasn't so long. It was Sunday, so it wasn't like they had classes that day, his homework was done, and he'd agreed with Rin when the younger boy had told him it would probably be more practical to just stay with him for the day. Rin had disappeared to get groceries sometime after five, so Ryūji was left alone. By himself.

Which wasn't a good thing, considering the turn his thoughts had taken in the past ten minutes. Anxiety had exploded in his stomach like a holy water bomb, and he'd had to sit down in order to not be sick. What did his friends think of him now? Rin had obviously had taken it pretty well, but Bon had seen the nervous tension on Konekomaru's face, and Shima had been too overcome with guilt to really take it in that his friend was now a _half demon_. The two had left sometime before Ryūji had woken up to do something or another, probably to talk to the people back at the temple.

Oh, god, speaking of, what was he going to tell his family? The idea that the temple would reject or kick him out turned his stomach, and Ryūji squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't think his father would be too judging, considering the way he'd reacted to Rin, but it was different with your own child. The empty feeling from last night was leaking back, and Ryūji knew himself well enough to know that he was depressed. Again.

Memories of the horrible months before he came to True Cross brushed his mind, but he firmly shook them off. He had promised himself he'd do everything in his power to not become that messed up kid again, bending under the pressure of getting a scholarship and an the ire of an unsupportive family.

Somewhere between Ryūji worrying about his family and then worrying about his friends again, the front door opened and then slammed shut again. Ryūji barely heard Rin's arrival, distracted with his thoughts and in staring down at his hands, which were propped on his knees. Something of what he was feeling must have shown in his eyes or countenance, because a second later he felt warm arms come to surround him for the second time in the last twenty four hours.

"Whatever you're thinkin', stop. You're gonna be fine," Rin mumbled, his warn breath brushing the back of his neck. Ryūji let his bicolored mop of hair fall over his eyes – he didn't have any hair gel on him and the metal pin was somewhere back in the room he'd slept in. "You're gonna be fine," Rin repeated, and Ryūji nodded once, sharply.

"I know," he mumbled, "'s just… I dunno. What is everyone gonna think?" Rin drew back, hands on his shoulders.

"Shima and Konekomaru accepted me eventually, and I'm the son of _Satan_. No way are they even gonna hesitate with you. And your old man… he's a cool guy. Your mom, too. Everything's gonna be fine." Rin patted his shoulder and then stood. "Besides, they've got the guy that did this to you, so I'm sure they're gonna come knocking with a cure soon enough," he added.

Right, oft mentioned cure. It was hard to think of his current state as anything but permanent, the way Rin's was - wait. If they could cure him, couldn't they cure Rin? Did Rin even want to go back to being human? He must have nodded while distracted, because Rin moved on to another topic altogether.

"Mmm. I'm making stew, hope you're hungry."

At the word of food, a black blur sprang down the hall like a bullet, meowing rapidly.

"_Stew?! Rin, you're making stew?! Yay!_"

By now completely distracted from his previous agony, Ryūji stared at Kuro, jaw dropping several centimeters. "Kuro's talkin'," he finally managed, "I can hear the cat talk." This inspired a several second period in which the demon cat and the newly demon boy just stared at each other.

Finally, the cat sith spoke. "_You have horns! Like me! Are you a demon too? When did that happen_?" He spoke rapidly and excitedly, and Ryūji realized belatedly that Rin and his familiar were completely suited for each other. Rin grabbed an ear, and Kuro let out an annoyed 'rrrooow.'

"Don't be rude! He's a half demon and he's gone through a lot of shit, so don't ask all those nosy questions!" Rin barked, letting Kuro's ear go. The cat's paw came up to rub at it, and he gave Rin a side eyed glare. He immediately brightened up afterwards, however, pain apparently forgotten.

'_Yep_,' Ryūji thought faintly, '_they're_ _exactly alike_.'

"_But now I have another person to talk to! Yay_!" Kuro sprung up onto the counter between the dining room and the kitchen, obviously to wait for the promised dinner, a hungry look in his eyes. Rin, grinning, pulled open the kitchen door, only to be stopped by a pull on his elbow. He looked back, to see Bon, his head down and face just barely visible, bright red.

"Uhh… hey. Thanks. Fer… everything yanno," he said, turning his head to the side, ears burning. Rin grinned, brighter than a Christmas tree, and Ryūji felt his heart throb. Uh oh.

"You're my friend. No problem." Ryūji nodded dazedly, letting him go, and went to go sit down, suddenly very anxious again, although for a very different reason.

'_Oh no_,' he thought furiously at himself, '_Stop. No weird feelings, especially not for absolutely, positively straight Rin Okumura_.' He glanced through the open kitchen window at Rin, who was clad in a white apron and chopping vegetables, dancing around to the mysterious song he was humming under his breath. His heart throbbingly protested. Expression flat, he suddenly wished that slapping himself in the face was something he could do without looking completely odd.

'_Guy hugs you twice and suddenly you've gotten a crush on him?! What is wrong with you, Suguro Ryūji?'_


	5. there is an altar made of ash

A/N - Some other fics I've been thinking about doing;

i.) Eight years ago, Suguro "Bon" Ryūji and his classmates made a promise to someday meet again, and then went their separate ways. Now the newest Paladin has announced a new partner program in order to improve relations between Order Members. Ryūji disagrees on principle - he knows how long it takes to trust someone enough to work with them efficiently. That is, until he's partnered with Okumura Rin, who isn't that different than he remembers, unsurprisingly. What is surprising is how well they get along. Technically Animeverse (no spoilers). (This doesn't really have an overarching plot, or a plot at all so far, so if you guys like this and have some ideas, I'm all ears.)

ii.) It's the ten year anniversary of the graduation of their old ExWire class, and, understandably, most of their classmates expect Bon and Rin to get back to the arguing and hating each other thing right off the bat. What they get is unexpected. Technically Animeverse, one-shot. (Bon and Rin are married with kids, nobody except a couple people know, everyone is shocked, etc.)

Please let me know if a.) you like any of these, and b.) if you have any ideas for either. Thanks!

* * *

chapter v  
there is an altar made of ash

_in which the way to __Ryūji's (demon) heart is through food and meaningful talks in empty watchtowers, and creepy glasses doctor reaches maximum creepy levels_

* * *

Twenty minutes later, all agony over crushes and/or the lack thereof was thoroughly forgotten in favor of _holy shit Rin's goddamn stew_. Ryūji was pretty sure nothing had ever tasted so good before, not even the very delicious breakfast and lunch he'd also had today. Actually he was pretty sure his food induced ascension to heaven right now was due to the meat, which was half raw and absolutely _incredible _tasting. Rin seemed to understand his ecstasy, because he smiled, pleased, but sympathizing.

"After I… turned, meat started tasting like 50% better when it was barely cooked, which I didn't even think was possible," he quipped, siding a smaller bowl of the stew towards Kuro, who started eating enthusiastically, and then sitting down with his own. "An' also I had to eat a lot more after too, so I'd invest in a lotta snacks or somethin', 'cause the cafeteria meals won't be enough," he continued, mouth full. "Oh, and avoid really smelly or sour foods. Trust me, things go south real fast." Oh, ew.

"… or you could just make me food," Ryūji said, too caught up in his meal to really consider the implications of what he just said.

"Sure!" Rin agreed easily, "It'll be easy enough to make enough food for three bentos, 'n you can come over for dinner anytime."

Ryūji paused in his chewing to stare at Rin in slight disbelief. "Seriously? I can?" he asked, taking a long drink from his milk. Rin nodded enthusiastically.

"You're much better company than my brother, he's always going on about studying or else he's off on some mission and not even there. It's a winner-winner situation!" Rin chattered.

"Think you mean a win-win situation," Ryūji muttered, amused despite himself. And touched. "Thanks Okumura." He felt as if he'd thanked the boy more in the past day or so than he had in the entire time he'd known Rin.

"No problem!" Rin continued talking about something or another the entire meal, and Ryūji let himself revel in the quiet (and somewhat one-sided) conversation and the warm food in his belly. His tail had come up sometime during conversation and wrapped itself around his chest, its warm weight becoming comforting rather than strange fairly quickly. He'd adapted startlingly quickly to his new attributes so far, to the point where the horns and tail were barely noticeable. Speaking of his horns… he reached up with a hand to feel the smooth keratin. The skin around the base of the horns appeared to have grown into them, something Ryūji was pretty sure would look very weird if his hair didn't cover it up. He put his hand down and looked up to see Rin staring at him. The boy quickly flushed.

"Er, sorry. I've only seen one other person with those, an' he was possessed." Ryūji didn't know if he wanted to know the story behind that one. "Could I see…?" Ryūji had barely nodded before Rin was on his side of the table, excitedly investigating.

"Hey, that ain't 'seeing' Okumura," Ryūji grumbled quietly, Rin's hands coming up to run up over his horns in a move that seemed strangely intimate. Rin appeared to ignore him, either not caring or too caught up in the strangeness of horns that looked as if they belonged to a goat on a person. Ryūji didn't actually care enough to push him off, so he relaxed and let the other boy do what he wanted.

He fought the urge to sigh contentedly and lean into Rin's chest. He couldn't quite _feel_ his horns, but he could feel them tugging on his scalp, which was strangely relaxing. It didn't feel good in the kind of way touching his tail or ears did – that was something that would take more than a day and a half to get used to – but instead was comforting, like someone running their hands through his hair. He'd relaxed into a half slumber when Rin spoke up.

"Can you feel them?" he asked, cocking his head like a curious dog.

"Uh, not really. 'S like when someone touches yer clothes or the ends of yer hair. You can feel it pull, but you can't actually feel it." Rin nodded, looking satisfied with his answer, and an awkward silence ensued. Rin cleared his throat and let his hands fall from Ryūji's head, which suddenly felt light without their weight.

"So… wanna go test out your new powers now?"

* * *

"Testing out" his powers apparently involved high speed races across the roof, jumping outrageous distances, swinging from lamp posts, both boys wreathed in multicolored flames like wildfires running. Ryūji had to admit he was having fun, though. He felt a coiled kind of strength in his muscles that he'd never had before, and he was doing things that would make even the most experience parkourist jealous with ease. The speed that had let Rin pass him so easily in gym belonged to him now, and he found himself overpassing the boy fairly regularly. '_Running every morning makes a difference, I guess_,' he thought, grinning back at Rin, who seemed more determined to beat him now than ever.

They hadn't been disturbed at all so far, not even by the Exorcists that they blurred past every so often. Ryūji assumed they were either used to it or that the headmaster had let them know to ignore the two half-demons.

Ryūji reached the tall watchtower that Rin had set as the end of their race a second before the other boy did. "I won," he said, gripping the slippery roof with his nails (which were more like claws at this point, he needed to file them down again) and grinning down at Rin, who looked put-out.

"It's only 'cause your all muscly and stuff," he pouted, "I'll get you next time." Ryūji laughed freely, feeling lighter than he had for a while.

"Sure ya will," he teased, jumping down into the empty watchtower. Rin followed suit, leaning on the wooden rail.

"'S getting' colder lately," Rin murmured.

"Says the guy still on fire," Bon, who'd twisted his ring back onto his finger a minute before, quipped back. Rin flushed and reached to remove the pebble he'd used to keep Kurikara slightly unsheathed. Blue flames died as quickly as they appeared, and Ryūji marveled at the sudden transformation. He was sure his was just as startling.

A minute later, Rin spoke up again. "You seem to be uhhh… holdin' up well," he mentioned, looking faintly embarrassed when Ryūji turned to look at him with a questioning expression. "I mean," he stammered, "I know I didn't react this well. Thas' all."

"Nah. I'm only doin' so well 'cause you're here ta help," Ryūji said uncomfortably, "'an I'm better at hiding things than you are, too." Rin looked at him with burning blue eyes, and Ryūji couldn't help but feel like he was being stared straight through.

"You don't have to hide, yanno," Rin said softly, "I mean… I've gone through what yer goin' through... I wanna help." Ryūji nodded, throat suddenly dry.

"Thanks, dude. I won't… hide, I mean."

"Good," Rin nodded, satisfied, and then grinned. "So… last one back to the dorm is a rotten egg!" Ryūji cursed as the boy suddenly disappeared, appearing again on the next roof over.

"Cheater," he growled affectionately, stuffing his ring into his pocket and then taking off. Maybe this half-demon thing really wouldn't be that bad, while it lasted.

* * *

Shura strolled down the narrow hall, boots clicking on the pure white linoleum. One thing she could say about the Japan Branch headquarters was that it was clean. "He in there?" she asked, jerking her head at the man leaning against the wall. Angel smiled smarmily and moved aside, letting her into the room. She paused, grabbing the clipboard from the hook on the door. "He said anythin' yet?"

"Nothing."

"Great," she snorted, pulling on the door and entering the cell. Holding room number four wasn't exactly special, just the standard concrete and metal box, two-way mirror affixed to the right wall. Dr. Hiro Tanaka sat sedately in the metal chair, dressed in the prisoner's standard grey uniform and cuffed to the table. He appeared to be staring straight into the face of one of two security cameras, the blinding light from the single overhead light reflecting off of the lenses of his square glasses.

'_Creepy guy_,' she thought. Also rather calm-looking, for someone who'd been held in an uncomfortable cell for more than twenty four hours with no food and very little water.

"You ready ta' talk, or do we gotta bring Angel in 'ere to brag ya to death?" she asked, pulling the other metal chair up the wrong way and sat straddling it, leaning her forearms on the top rail. The man's eyes slowly moved from the camera to her, blinking lethargically as if just realizing she was there.

"Yes," the man said, abruptly, as if coming to a realization, "I suppose it's time to talk." Shura blinked. That was suspiciously easy. Maybe the guy was weak to cute girls?

"Okaaay. You've just made yer life and my life a whole lot easier. We'll start with the basics," she referenced the clipboard, which gave a vague outline of the questions she was supposed to ask. "Yer name is Hiro Tanaka?"

"Yes."

"An' you worked at," Shura paused, searching for the name, "Fujiwara Center for Developmental Biology fer how long before the shut-down?"

"Six years."

Shura stared flatly at the man for a second, searching for signs of lying. His breathing was regular and he wasn't sweating or fidgeting. So far he seemed to be telling the truth, not that _that_ meant much. The information he was telling her wasn't exactly incriminating and could easily be checked. Still, it was common procedure to check for the signs early on. They assumed if their suspects lied about the stupid stuff, they'd lie about the important stuff, too. She arched a brow and continued.

"Okay. You agree that yew kidnapped an' experimented on Suguro Ryūji without his prior consent or knowledge?"

"Yes." That confession was good as incarceration, and possibly death. Shura idly wondered what he thought he was doing. Possibly he thought he could escape death row if he cooperated, not that he was wrong.

"An' you agree that you intentionally meant to turn the kid into a demon?

"Yes." For a second, Shura could have sworn he smiled, small and nearly unnoticeable. She felt a chill go up her spine. She wasn't exactly someone who was easily freaked out, but even she felt queasy at the man's callous demeanor for the child whose life he could have (and might have, for all they knew) ruined forever.

"Was Suguro Ryūji yer first victim?"

"No."

"Please list yer previous victim's names, ages, and genders."

So started the long process of listing and writing down all twenty nine of the victims, ending with Bon himself. So far so suspiciously good.

"An' what happened to all these people?" She had a sinking feeling she already knew.

"Their bodies couldn't hold up to the injections; most had heart attacks. One or two drowned in their own blood. All died. They were disposed by cremation in one of the laboratory's furnaces." This was said with a kind of clinical detachment that made Shura want to kill something. She hated interrogating these type of guys, the emotionless ones. It was much better when they went into blind rages, then she could at least punch them in, quote on quote, "self-defense."

"Did you pick Suguro Ryūji specifically, or was it a happenstance?"

"I picked him specifically."

"Why?"

Okay, now he was definitely smiling. _Gross_. "The spawn of Satan is rather famous. I saw how healthy and adjusted he was and realized that teenagers could be more likely to live after the surgery. I decided to pick one of his classmates for convenience; Suguro Ryūji happened to be the most physically fit of them. His mission to my old laboratory was a coincidence."

'_Hell of coincidence_,' Shura thought. "You operate outta your old building, then?" The man's face briefly looked pinched, but then smoothed out. She wouldn't even have noticed had she not been staring intently at him. '_What was that all about_?' she wondered.

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Suguro Ryūji would be assigned to search the basement where you were operating?"

"No. That and his pink-haired friend's rather severe entomophobia were both coincidences." Shura was beginning to think that the stars aligned in this guy's favor or something.

"Where'd you get the equipment?"

"After the shut-down, the equipment in the lab was abandoned. Most of my supplies were scavenged from the building. The rest was bought using personal savings." Shura nearly sighed in relief as she realized she was coming to the end of the questions. She was done dealing with this guy, let Angel or one of his cronies take care of him.

Now for the question the Order really wanted answered: whether or not the guy was affiliated with anyone.

"Yew workin' alone, then?" she asked, chewing on the end of her pencil.

"Yes."

"Yer not associated with anyone - not even yer old lab?"

"No, I am not associated with the Fujiwara Center in any way." Both of those answers could be misconstrued as half-truths, she noted.

"Why turn people into demons in the first place?"

"Clinical interest. I wished to see if I could do it." Ugggh. She was pretty sure this guy couldn't get grosser if he tried.

"Right o'. Last question: with the promise that yew would be pardoned from death row, would you work with Order specialists to create a cure?" The man's face fell. '_Probably disappointed he has to reverse all his hard work_,' Shura thought with a sort of sick satisfaction.

"…yes," he answered finally, slowly, as if he was being forced. Now it was time for Shura to feel disappointed. She almost wished he'd had said no, she was sure they could find a cure for the kid without the guy.

"Then thas' all I have to say. Someone will be along to escort yew to a cell in a couple minutes," she finished, standing and brushing imaginary dirt from her shorts. She felt as if she needed a shower from just being the in the guy's presence. She exited swiftly as she could without seeming hurried, clipboard under her arm, feeling the heavy gaze of the faux doctor on her back like twin embers. '_Soooooo creepy_,' she thought, shutting the door behind her with finality. Angel came from the other door soon after, just as she'd expected.

"So?" he asked, "thoughts?"

"He's lyin'," she declared, cracking her neck. Angel's perfect eyebrow rose.

"What makes you think that?" he started, "I saw no sign of lying in his countenance."

"Who the hell uses 'countenance' in a normal sentence?" she asked, mostly to annoy him, twisting a pinky finger in her ear. "Anyway, he answered all the questions too readily. I believe he picked the kid in specific, but I don't think it's just coincidence that he gets assigned on a mission to the very place creepy guy says he's been workin' outta. I think the doctor knew 'bout the kid's mission and moved his supplies. Not ta' mention, no way did he get all that demon blood off his own personal savins'. He's workin' with someone." Angel's eye twitched, at odds with his pleasant smile.

"It is how I thought, as well," he finally said, walking from the holding cell. Shura followed, snorting with a muttered, "yeah, yew were just testin' me."

She quieted, sobering quickly. There was no question that he was working with someone, but they were no closer to finding out whom than before she'd gone in. They were going to have to call Corleone in if the doctor continued to lie. Her face twisted as she thought of the interrogator. If there was one guy creepier than glasses doctor, it was Corleone. She hoped it wouldn't come to that – if it did, they'd be forced to bring the main branch in.

'_An' wouldn't that be one big shit storm_,' she thought wryly.

* * *

After they had grudgingly agreed that their race back was a tie, Rin insisted on walking him back to his dorm. Ryūji, feeling somewhat like a girl just come back from a date, tried to decline, but Rin came along anyway, grinning in a way that made his throat tighten in a 'I have a crush on this guy' kind of way, which was completely unacceptable.

He'd thereon spent the rest of the walk convincing himself that a.) turning halfway into a demon was obviously doing some strange things to his emotions; therefore his building feelings for Rin were just a symptom of his wildly changing moods and that b.) even in the case of his feelings actually being real (which they most definitely were _not_), did Ryūji really want to have to cope with liking a straight guy while also handling his newfound inhumanity? He hadn't even realized while distracted that Rin had been attempting to get his attention.

"Heeeey… Suguro? You okay, man?" Ryūji startled at the hand waving in front of his face.

"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly, "'m tired." Rin looked at him quizzically, but apparently decided not to ask.

"Well, lucky for you, we're here," Rin said finally, gesturing to the building in front of them. Ryūji looked up to confirm that they had in fact arrived while he was consumed in his thought.

"Yeah, I can see that, Okumura," he said with false wryness, "I'll be ok from here." Rin looked uncertain, and Ryūji rolled his eyes. "I can make it up the stairs on my own Okumura, you get back to your dorm. It's a school night."

"Alright, fine, I'm going," Rin said, grinning. "See you in cram school!" With that, he sprang off in the direction of his debilitated dorm, looking inordinately cheerful for someone who'd definitely be late tomorrow. As always. Ryūji snorted.

"You liiiiiike him, dontcha'," came a voice from his right side. Ryūji let out a very embarrassing noise of surprise, jumping to the side. He'd heard someone coming from the building, but hadn't realized it was Shima and Konekomaru, the former being the one who'd just scared him out of his whits.

"Would you give some warning?!" Bon shouted, looking embarrassed. "Why is that the first thing you ask anyway, damned perv…" he turned his head to the side in an attempt to hide his red face. Shima seemed stunned.

"Wait, I was right?" Shima grinned. "Oh man, that's priceless!"

"I don't like him," Ryūji snapped, knowing the damage had already been done. "I'm havin' mood swings from the demon thing an' I'm all confused."

Shima quickly sobered. "How're you holdin' up?" he asked, quietly, leaning to bump his shoulder softly with Bon's. Konekomaru came up on his other side, expression worried.

"'M fine." Ryūji bristled at Shima's unbelieving look. "Seriously, I'm ok! I'm confused and kinda terrified, but…" he paused hopelessly, "'m fine. Or I will be, anyway." He blustered on before Shima could say anything else, "Where have you guys been anyway? I woke up and you were gone."

"We were at the Order headquarters, bein' questioned," Shima gave him the side-eye. "I'm surprised they haven't called you in yet, considerin'."

"They're probably giving him a recovery period," Konekomaru mentioned, before shivering. "Can we go inside? It's really cold out here." Ryūji hadn't even noticed, but now that Neko mentioned it…

"Yeah, let's go," he said, giving a shiver of his own. He hoped now that he was home and with his friends that everything would go back to normal. Well. At least as normal as he possibly could get it. With that in mind, Ryūji let his friends pull him upstairs and back into their warm dorm room, which seemed more comforting than it had than ever before.

* * *

end notes – Shura is so cool.

Yes, Corleone is an OC (he will not show up beyond mentions), yes, I filched his name from the Godfather. I figured Luca Brasi would be too obvious.


	6. there is blood in the holy water

A/N - Uhhhhh... I don't really have any excuses to put here besides school is hard. Good news is that the break helped me put this fic into perspective so hopefully the updates will be a little quicker than this one is.

* * *

chapter vi  
there is blood in the holy water

_in which there are assassinations, boys being boys, and more questions _

* * *

Twenty three year old Matsumoto Tatsuya was pretty sure that this was the worst guarding job he'd had to do since coming to work for The Order. Another round of giggles ensued from the cell behind him, and he fought the urge to cringe. Strike that, he was absolutely sure that this was his worst job yet. The man had seemed fine enough when he'd come in, strikingly calm and serious; not to mention so plain that it was almost extraordinary. The past hour or so had seen the dissolve of that reserve into quiet rambling and occasional laughter. The strange shape of the cells down here made sounds echo very easily, and the way his laughter seemed to surround Tatsuya was extremely unsettling. He was almost starting to think that the man was only acting in such a manner to freak him out.

The metal slat on the door that was his only exit slid open, a pair of warm brown eyes framed by laugh lines peering in.

"I'm here to replace you, Matsumoto-kun," the friendly voice came. Tatsuya almost sighed with relief, but caught himself. Showing emotion to the prisoners was "highly advised against." He walked towards the door, which was opened as he came through, as it locked from the outside.

"Harada-san," he greeted, obviously very relieved and much less uncomfortably stiff now that the door was closed, "thank god. He was starting to really creep me out." Harada raised a grey eyebrow.

"Not going soft now, are we?" he asked, his tone implicating that he was teasing. Tatsuya shifted.

"He's just so…" he floundered, hopelessly searching for a word.

"Creepy," Harada finished wryly, nodding. "Yeah, I get it, he's laughing and stuff, right? He did that on my last shift here, too. Don't worry about it, he's just doing it to freak you out." Harada's hand came up to pat Tatsuya's shoulder.

"That's what I thought! He started –" he was cut off when the other man's hand suddenly tightened on his shoulder. The guard looked down the long, tunneled hall in silence, lights flickering in their little alcoves above.

"Harada-san?" he asked, softly. "Is everything okay?" The older man's eyes moved across the tunnel and the little attached room they currently stood in, suspiciously taking it in. Finally, he relaxed.

"Everything's fine, I thought –" Harada's head suddenly cracked to the right as if he'd been hit by something, and he crumpled. His keys, attached to a belt loop, floated up as if caught by a stray wind. Tatsuya, breaths coming faster, scrabbled for his gun, before feeling a sharp pain in his head. He fell, gasping, to the floor, head cracking against the limestone. His hazy and fading vision took in the site of the heavy metal door to the cells open seemingly on its own, key turned by an invisible hand. He thought he heard a deafening crack and a scream as black folded around his vision.

* * *

"Uuungh," Ryūji came to with a groan, arm coming off to brush the heavy weight on his shoulder off. "Stop shakin'," murmured, burrowing his nose in his pillow. It smelled like detergent. Konekomaru must've done laundry, he'd been too tired and distracted to notice last night.

"Bon!" Speaking of Konekomaru. Ryūji lifted his head, vision fuzzy. The yellow light streaming through his window did not seem to belong the washed out grey of dawn. He bolted awake, nearly cracking heads with his bald friend, who jumped out of the way with a squawk.

"Wha'? What time 's it?" he asked, hands coming up to rub his eyes. Konekomaru looked fairly concerned for someone who'd almost knocked him in the head.

"It's seven," the smaller boy told him, ignoring Bon's sudden slew of curses. "Are you okay? You never sleep through your alarm." Ryūji eyebrows came down, not that this was visible behind his bangs, and he grabbed his clock from the side table. He paused for a second, and then his hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose.

"Forgot to set it," he said, sounding amused. Konekomaru sighed, sounding equal amounts wry and relieved. Bon felt a sudden flash of guilt. His friends had probably been worrying about him, and he was racing around with Rin like a five year old."Thanks Neko," he muttered, standing. Huh. The floor was much warmer at seven that at five thirty.

"No problem," the bald boy waved him off, other hand coming up to cover a yawn. Ryūji suppressed a yawn of his own and padded off to the bathroom, tail swinging behind him. He guessed he'd have to take a shower later, considering there seemed to be no chance for one now.

* * *

Sounds really echoed in the records room, Angel thought, resisting the urge to flinch. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,' appeared to have been invented especially for Shura.

"The hell you mean he's dead?!" Shura wasn't really the type to shout, but she was making an exception for this one. Angel looked kind of like he wanted to wince. She could be damn loud when she wanted. "I thought we searched him for poison capsules and blades an' stuff? We got 'em all, yeah?!"

"He was shot," Angel said, simply, as if that explained everything. Shura let her hand fall from where it'd been gesturing madly in the air and stared at him with all the dry disbelief she could muster.

"Shot," she deadpanned. "An' where, exactly, where the damn guards we posted?"

"Both knocked out. The younger is fine but the older has a rather nasty concussion," Angel sniffed. Shura reached up to grip the bridge of her nose, futilely trying to fight the migraine like a thunderstorm she could feel building behind her temples.

"So, yer sayin' that someone got into headquarters, snuck down to cell level three, knocked out two trained guards, killed our only lead into this whole demon person business, and then _got out without bein' apprehended_," she said, deathly quiet.

"Hn. Yes, unbelievable, isn't it." Oooooh, she was gonna kick Angel's smarmy ass _so hard –_ "At least, until you watch the security tapes."

"Wha'?" Shura looked up. "We got it on tape? Whoever it was didn't loop it or delete it or anythin'? We know who it is?"

Angel looked grim. "No, we don't." He turned the laptop towards her and played the gritty video. Shura watched at the two guards talked, paused, and then… crumpled, on their own, like they'd been shot. And then watched the keys float up to open the door. And then after that watched the gun float up and shoot the doctor, huddling terrified in the corner of his cell.

"What the _hell_?"

* * *

During breakfast that morning Shima crowded into his space, elbowing him and grinning. "So I heard someone woke up _after_ the sun rose today," he teased. Ryūji rolled his eyes and shoved him with a hand. Shima let out a light 'oof' and scooted away from the mohawked teen, obviously getting the message. Konekomaru shook his head, looking reluctantly amused at their antics. The bald boy's head came up suddenly, and he gave a little wave. Confused, Ryūji turned in his seat, only to come nose first with the chest of one Okumura Rin. The other half demon laughed, and Bon punched him lightly in the stomach, nose wrinkling. Rin staggered exaggeratedly backwards, grinning.

Ryūji, rolling his eyes, turned back around and moved his chair to the side so that could Rin could flop into the seat next to him. Shima made some exaggerated eyebrow movements on Rin's other side, and Bon gave him a flat look.

"Whatyya doin' here Okumura?" he asked, deciding that it probably wouldn't be worth the scene and ensuing detention if he leapt over the table and punched Shima.

"Special delivery!" the boy lifted up a plastic bag, the vague outlines of three black boxes just visible through the shear white. Rin pulled one of the boxes out, peering inside before snapping it shut. He repeated this with the second one, but this time he handed the box to Bon with a flourish.

Ryūji took it. "Uh-?" he glanced up at Rin questioningly.

"Your bento…?" Oh. _Oh_.

"Thanks man… didn't actually think you'd do it." The other boy pouted, tail lashing once.

"I said I'd do it, didn't I? You can return the box tonight at dinner. I gotta go give this to Yukio, he forgot it this morning." Rin sped out of the cafeteria in search of his brother before Ryūji could get a word in edgewise.

Shima looked absolutely _ecstatic_. "Oh man, bento? And dinner? I don't even have to make the jokes anymore, they just make themselves!" The pink-haired boy cackled like a hyena, clutching at his stomach in exaggerated mirth. _Not worth the detention_, Ryūji reminded himself.

Though he didn't show it, he was happy. Not because Rin had made him lunch – okay, that also made him kinda happy – but because his friends were treating him like they always had, half demon and all. Everything felt so normal that he could almost convince himself that everything actually was.

* * *

Remember that thing he said about things being normal? Scratch that.

Ryūji and his two friends stood in the doorway of the cram school, bags slung over their shoulders. The classroom swarmed with Exorcists like coal tars, scurrying about with little notebooks and pencils, questioning their classmates and teacher. "Thought they already did this?" Bon murmured to his companions, who shrugged uneasily.

"Ah. Suguro-kun, there you are. Come over here please," their teacher spoke from where he was standing near the teacher's desk. Bon shrugged his bag off of his shoulder and walked over, feeling anxious. He thought he'd be called into the Headquarters and questioned there, not impromptu during cram school homeroom.

"Er, is everything alr-?" Ryūji was cut off as the door to the classroom banged open, a red haired woman strolling in as if she owned the place. Ryūji thought he could see Yukio's eyebrow twitch from the corner of his eye.

"Alright, where's the kid – oh, there you are." Shura said, looking bored. "We gotta ask yew some questions."

"Uhhh," Ryūji scratched the inside of his arm uneasily, "I thought I'd be called into HQ? Why are we doin' this here?" Shura sighed.

"There's been… some unexpected developments." That didn't sound very good.

"What kind of developments." Ryūji didn't mean to sound as flat as he had, but nerves were making him testy.

"The creepy doctor guy's dead," Shura said bluntly, flopping into a chair. Ryūji's thoughts flat-lined.

"Dead," he said blankly, more a statement than question.

"Shot in the head. Security tapes show the guards passin' out an' the gun shootin' by itself." Shura waved a hand in the air. "We've done some research, an' there are demons that have that kind o' ability… invisibility an' crap. We think that whatever organization the guy was part of sent a demon in to finish 'im off, make sure he didn't spill any crucial info." The red headed woman looked annoyed. "It's chaos back at HQ, the main branch has been called in, we've been ordered on short notice to finish up questionin' you kiddos, " Shura gestured widely to the classroom, "an' security's been doubled."

"Uhh," Ryūji cleared his throat, hands coming up to rub at his eyes, which suddenly felt very heavy, "this may be… insensitive or somethin', but a cure…?"

"Ah. Don' worry 'bout it brat, the phony doctor left behind a crap ton of that serum whatever, our scientists are pretty sure they can reverse it as soon as they figure out whatever the hell's in it."

Ryūji felt a rush of relief, and swallowed heavily. Now that he knew that the doctor really wasn't needed for the eventual creation of a cure, he felt immensely relived that he was dead. A couple of times during the last couple of days, he couldn't shake the feeling that Dr. Tanaka would spring out from behind a building and take him again, despite how ridiculous he knew the idea was. "So, you need me for…?"

"Just a couple o' questions. We've got a pretty complete picture of what happened from everyone else, so the main branch has decided we don't need to question you on that to save time. We just wanna know if he said anythin' to you. Anythin' 'bout motive, who he was workin' for, things like that."

Ryūji tried to remember what the doctor had said to him. The words were fuzzy, his memory hazy.

"Well, I was kinda drugged at the time, so I can't say if I really remember if this happened… he mentioned other victims, I think."

"Yeah, we got that part."

"Oh. Alright. Anythin' else…" Ryūji's brow furrowed in concentration, "… he said he was tryin' to make human weapons."

Shura looked grim. "We figured it was somethin' like that, but it's unsettling to hear it confirmed. That all?"

Ryūji nodded, feeling somewhat useless.

"'Kay, thas' all I wanted." She turned to the room at large, "Hope all yew are done, because order's are to return immediately to tha' Japan Branch." There was a shouted "yes ma'am!" from the surrounding Exorcists and the group left the room. Rin came in a second later, looking behind him with a confused expression.

"Uhhhh? What was that all about?" he asked lowly, as if talking to himself, scratching his neck.

"The doctor guy's dead. He got shot by an invisible demon or somethin'." Ryūji answered anyway. Rin turned to look at him.

"What?! Seriously?! Wait, what about… err," Rin stopped, fumbling his words.

"'S okay, Okumura. Kirigakure said the Order's workin' on the cure, there ain't gonna be a problem," Ryūji said, feeling a swelling warmth as Rin gave an extraordinarily relieved smile.

"…wait, did you just say an _invisible demon_? What the hell? You think I could go invisible?" Bon smiled. Creepy doctors could die, the earth could crumble and the sky could fall, and Rin would still be Rin.

"Yer so loud it wouldn't matter if you were invisible, everyone'd still know you were there," Ryūji teased.

"Hey! I resemble that remark!" The two boys laughed and talked for a while before Yukio cleared his throat, indicating that homeroom was starting. Ryūji went to claim his seat next to Konekomaru and in front on Shima, ignoring the former's quiet snickers and the latter's much less subtle laughter and suggestive grin. He'd take his friend's teasing for as long as he had to if life continued to be as good as it was shaping up to be.

* * *

End Notes  
SO has everyone read the recent chapter? I did, and I loved it (made me cry). Holy crap, I liked Izumo before but now I _adore_ her. I don't wanna wait another month... sighs.


	7. there is moss on the gravedigger's stoop

A/N – [Insert muffled cussing here.] SO, I accidentally put in previous chapters that Bon has a cellphone. He totally doesn't have a cellphone because a.) he actually canonically doesn't, b.) his non-owning of a cellphone is actually somewhat relevant to the plot of this story. I went and fixed it in previous chapters and hopefully I won't make the same mistake later. Sighs deeply.

* * *

chapter vii  
there is moss on the gravedigger's stoop

_in which Ryūji fully comprehends that he actually is a demon and calls his mom_

* * *

Ryūji slept like a baby that night, in that he woke often and felt like crying for the majority of the night. At around four he gave up on sleep completely, filled with a kind of feral energy that reminded him oddly of the cats back at the monastery. Removing the heels of his hands from his abused eyes, he blinked away the dots swimming in his vision and finally gave up his last hopes of getting back to sleep before dawn. He stood from where he'd been sitting on the side of his bed and walked – or, more accurately, prowled – to the bathroom.

He dunked his face under the faucet for a moment, letting the chill creep down his neck, before turning the tap off and wiping his face on a towel. He propped his hands on the edges of the wide sink and stared quietly at his reflection in the mirror for a while, somewhat off put at how well he could see himself and his surroundings, despite the fact that he hadn't bothered to turn on the light. His pupils had narrowed to cat's slits and the gold around them had grown, until there was only a narrow band of brown visible. They appeared to glow, unearthly, in the dim light. He looked away, unsettled, sharp claws tapping an anxious rhythm on the tiled sinks. He'd made a firm promise to himself a day or so after the… procedure, to not give into self-hatred. The idea seemed… self-defeating in a way, like he'd be letting that fucking doctor win. Even if the doctor's goals weren't exactly having him hate himself.

Which led his mind down a completely different track, which fortunately didn't include self-loathing. For one, did creepy doctor really think he could just turn some kid into a demon and not expect to get fried? Like, even if fire wasn't a thing that all demons had, extra strength and speed definitely were. And teeth. And claws.

Actually, Ryūji probably wouldn't have attacked the doctor with his teeth unless the situation was deadly, no matter how satisfying the thought was. He cut that thought off at the bud. He wasn't quite sure if his new sense of sadism – as in, rip that doctor's throat out with his teeth brand of sadism - was a result of the stressful situation he'd been through or because of his newly acquired demon-ness. He really wanted to blame it on the latter, but Rin didn't seem to have a sadistic bone in his body, not to mention the books he'd been reading didn't mention a thing about anything like that.

Not that that said a damn thing, considering how terribly useless the books had turned out to be. He'd thrown himself with a kind of frenzied vigor into researching demon behavior, considering that demon behavior was now _his_ behavior. Apparently exorcists didn't really care about how demons acted unless it had something to do with how to exorcise them, which made sense logically but still made him want to tear his hair out. All he'd learned was the basics, things he already knew: demon's supernatural strength, increased senses, their propensity to be nocturnal… wait. Ryūji stared incredulously at his hands for a moment before leaning down to bury his head in them. He was _so stupid_. _Demons were nocturnal_.

It'd been the first thing he learned, the first thing his father had told him, voice completely clear and unslurring for once, when he'd come back crying, knees skinned, after an imp had tripped him up going down a hill. _"If you're ever in trouble with demons; if you ever are in a situation where you can't exorcise it, run and wait until sunrise." _Demons were nocturnal; he was a (half) demon; therefore he was nocturnal (and also stupid). No wonder he couldn't sleep: according to his nature, Ryūji was _supposed_ to be up. It also explained an uncomfortable amount about Rin's propensity to sleep in class, although Ryūji suspected that may also be in part due to his inability to pay attention.

Ryūji scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned. Now what? He was supposed to completely change his schedule around so that he could sleep during the day? Not going to regular school was not even an option, considering he had to go or be booted from the dorms. He supposed he could sleep after cram school and after the sun came up, and just do his homework during the periods of the night he was awake, which he judged to be from sunset to sunrise, give or take a couple hours.

Actually, Ryūji thought, feeling an odd pull on his bones and a sudden weariness, he'd probably have a scarily accurate biological clock now, considering he could _feel_ the sun rising. He padded back to his room, squinting at the high window, which was glinting with orange-red light. Glancing at the clock revealed he had maybe an hour and half to sleep before seven, so he reset his alarm and fell into the bed, resolving to fix his schedule later. With that thought he slipped back into sleep, sunlight forming a warm cradle around his still form.

* * *

Whoever decided, Ryūji managed to think upon waking, that waking up poor, hapless half-demons with that awful stringent noise was a good idea was going to _die_. He slammed his hand down on the "snooze" button of his alarm clock with a bit more force than strictly necessary, and stumbled up to get dressed and go to the bathroom. Konekomaru stumbled in in his customary bleary exhaustion while Ryūji was fighting his hair into order, a feat made hard by the two great bloody horns on his head. Their routine passed in much the same order as it did on any day, with the exception of them going to breakfast and then to school together rather than separately mostly so that Ryūji could tell Konekomaru about his recent discovery.

The other boy seemed about as surprised and annoyed at his own lack of foresight as Ryūji had, which was gratifying. "It should be obvious, really, but I guess it's hard to think that demon qualities apply to people who look mostly human." Here Konekomaru sent him an apologetic look, obviously for the "mostly" comment. Ryūji simply shrugged back. It wasn't as if he looked like any normal human except to the untainted, and by now he'd learned he'd have to contend with his unusual looks for at least the time being.

From there the conversation turned to what other habits and/or abilities Bon had acquired from his recent stint as a demon. "It looks like you can use flames, although I don't know how well you can control them?" Konekomaru turned to Bon questioningly, but the other boy merely shrugged.

"I dunno, haven't tried. Though, sometimes I really want to, 'specially when Shima waves those stupid porn mags under my nose," Bon grunted. His friend laughed, obviously remembering the last time Shima tried to convert him to "the other side." His friends had been exceptionally accepting of his sexuality, but that didn't mean that Shima couldn't be a little shit. Ryūji had eventually gotten him off of his back by promising in an exceedingly malicious tone of voice that if Shima didn't get that damn magazine away from him, he'd end up eating it, which had put an end to the roudy behavior fairly quickly. "Maybe I should do that candle thing, see how far I can get. Probably be better at it than Okumura, considerin' I don't solve everything by blowin' it up." Unless he had a bazooka. Blowing stuff up with that was pretty fun.

Konekomaru looked thoughtful, his finger tapping an uncertain pattern on his chin. "Maybe you're meant to blow stuff up." At Ryūji incredulous look, he hastened to explain. "I mean, I think you should learn to control your flames too. But back in the lab, you did some incredible damage. You blew the reinforced metal door right off of its hinges and across the hall!"

"Huh… yeah, I don't really remember most of that, but I think I could… feel them? The flames I mean." His hands came up unconsciously, as if to try and express what he was struggling to find words for. "It was like I could feel the energy in them, I mean. As if I could bring them back and push them out again… like a supernova?"

The other boy cocked his head to the side, thoughtful. "Sounds pretty strange," he said finally, "and don't let Shima hear you say anything like that, or next thing you know your new nickname's going to be 'supernova.'"

Bon considered that for minute, and then his nose wrinkled. "I can't tell if that sounds really badass or like a stripper name," he quipped, grinning along with Konekomaru's laughter. Now to figure out where he could buy candles in bulk.

* * *

It wasn't until English class that day that Ryūji realized, with a nausea brought on by sick guilt and the horrible fear of being rejected, that he hadn't talked to his family about his recent changes yet. He was fairly sure that they didn't know about it yet, as his mother hadn't kicked down his door in a burst of melodramatic rage probably bursting with comments about how good boys told their parents about their recent demon-surgery. This mental image, slightly hilarious as it was, made his throat constrict as he admitted that his mental image mom was right: he should have called his parents as soon as it had happened, not days after the fact.

Unless she knew, but didn't want to see him ever again. He fought against the blind wave of terror that thought brought, leg jiggling under his desk. Although he was out of the "I never want to see nor talk to you ever again" phase with his father, it wasn't likely they'd regain the closeness they'd had in his childhood due to Bon's dislike of some his habits – namely the drinking and flirting with other women. His father's possible rejection would hurt, but it wouldn't be crushing – not like his mother's would be.

_'Calm down,'_ he told himself severely, _'it's far more likely that they don't know.'_ He knew it was true too: even before the Order's self-imposed lockdown, which Ryūji knew also prevented the spread of information, news had often taken a fair while to reach the monastery unless it was something directly affecting Kyoto.

Which meant he'd have to tell them himself, which unfortunately did nothing for the curl of dread like ice in his abdomen. _'After cram,'_ he told himself, stiffly getting up when the bell rang, _'you'll call them.'_ He cast a desperate look at the clock, silently willing it to slow its ticking. _'After cram school.'_

* * *

As if to personally spurn him, time seemed to flow unnaturally fast that day. Cram school was a blur, and he could barely even remember the topics discussed. He knew he must look the sick nerves he was feeling, as Rin had shot him concerned looks from where he sat in front of the classroom the entire time. After class, the other boy had swarmed over to him, questioning his health in that fast voice Rin took on when he was feeling awkward. Bon had sighed and told Shima and Konekomaru to go ahead. He'd told them previously about his plans, so they left with only a worried glance. Rin, after he'd been informed as well, wasn't nearly as easy to get rid of.

_"I'm coming with you,"_ he'd declared firmly, obviously disregarding Ryūji's, 'wait, but you don't have to –'which had sounded weak, even to his own ears.

So now they were standing in the main hall together, staring at the "Mephy Phone," which was, like most of their eccentric headmaster's themed objects, a mess of pastel colors. He'd never think that baby blue and pale pink would inspire such dread in him, but here he was, staring at the payphone in a horror that had nothing to do with the outlandish call prices. There was a private, no-pay phone secreted in a corner of the dorm, but since wresting it away from the obnoxious rich boys that populated the building wasn't exactly in Bon's interest range, he usually came to the hall to make his calls. Now he found himself wishing for the privacy that using the dorm phone would give him. He swallowed hard and nearly dropped the coins when he made to put them into the slot as Rin went to sit in a chair a couple feet away, a quietly reassuring presence.

The couple of dry, machinated rings seemed to stretch for an eternity before someone picked up. The sound of his mother's voice, cheerfully announcing his inn's title, was almost a relief. It took him a second to wet his throat enough to talk. His voice when it came out cracked, and he winced a little.

"Hey Ma… it's me."

There was a brief pause over the line. "Ryūji!" his mother exclaimed, sounding harried in the way that meant she'd probably been screaming at people a second before, "you called!" There was another moment of silence as she mulled this over. "You only ever call when something's happened," she finally stated, sounding dry, "so am I to guess that Shima's fallen into a ditch or something like that?" Ryūji managed a weak laugh.

"Something like that. Have you heard about the Order lockdown?"

If his Ma thought the seemingly abrupt change of subject was odd, she didn't show it. "Only vaguely." She made a suspicious noise, "Don't tell me it had something to do with you? I swear, the trouble you boys get into."

He took a deep breath. "Ma… I –" Another. "I-" Out. "I'm a half demon." There was a long, quiet pause. Ryūji thought somewhat hysterically for a moment that that had sounded like he was coming out – only he was coming out of the closet as a monster.

"…excuse me? Ryūji Suguro, if this is your idea of a joke, I'll-"

"No," he got out, pressing a trembling hand to his mouth. "No, Ma. I'm not joking." And then the entire painful story came tumbling out like water down a stream. The mission, his capture, the doctor's smug expression as he'd come to, feeling like a building had come crashing down on him.

_"I've improved you." _

How the doctor had died, killed off by the same organization that had employed him to make teenagers into living weapons. How the Order had shut down quicker than a padlock. How supportive his friends had been. How he could hear straight across the dining hall with little problem now. How he was so sorry, Ma. So so sorry I didn't tell you, I was just _so scared –_

The silence that ensued worked pretty effectively to kill his soul until it was broken by his mother's trembling voice, muffled in a way that meant she'd covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, _darling_." And that was it: his answer, two words that filled him with so much relief that his knees actually buckled. He stifled a sob, feeling the sides of his eyes prickle. She didn't hate him.

"Oh, darling," she repeated, her voice a mélange of shock and care and fear and love. "Oh, my baby boy. I'm going to bring that fucking excuse for a human being back to life and then murder him." Ryūji couldn't help but laugh, feeling his throat tighten as the tears he'd tried to suppress finally rolled down his cheeks. It was the first time the entire week that he'd fully felt that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

End Notes – Ok, here's me admitting that I almost cried while writing this, like the huge baby nerd I am. IDK if you got the vibe from this chapter, but I _really love_ Mama Suguro.


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